


make me feel fantastic, broke my cage

by stewies2j



Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Chess!, F/M, adult karin and toushirou!, coffee!, might write more chapters idk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:08:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24726511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stewies2j/pseuds/stewies2j
Summary: Every morning, Karin moves a chess piece. Every evening, a stranger moves a piece in response. What started off as a simple game of chess became an unbridled desire to know that stranger's identity一 and that was something Karin simply couldn't hold back.
Relationships: Hitsugaya Toushirou/Kurosaki Karin
Comments: 5
Kudos: 39





	make me feel fantastic, broke my cage

It was subtle, something Karin hadn’t thought about when she did it. Eventually, it grew into a game of sorts. With whom, she had no idea. It was like clockwork: every morning, Karin would retrieve her daily dosage of coffee from Kisuke Urahara’s coffee store and move a piece on the chess board. Initially, when she first moved the piece, she did it out of pity. The board would just sit there idly, collecting dust as it was constantly ignored by the bustling in-and-out of customers. 

Thus, keeping with the game’s rules, she started on the white side.

_White Pawn to e4._

She didn’t think much of it; she highly doubted someone would notice the slight movement and play her game. Chess is a dying game, after all. A classic, for sure一 but a dwindling light nevertheless. Only few nowadays know the greatness that is Magnus Carlsen and the other chess grandmasters throughout history. She would often curse her father for getting her into the game at a young age because everyone doesn't seem to recognize it anymore. A useless and dying talent, perhaps. It didn’t stop her from attending every chess competition in her area, though.

When she came back the next morning, she saw, to her surprise, the new placement of a black piece.

_Black Pawn to e5._

She grinned as she moved a white piece in response, pleased that someone had accepted her invitation.

_White Knight to g3._

~

It had been exactly two weeks when Karin decided to ask Urahara about her anonymous player.

Irritatingly enough, the sly coffee shop owner only spread open his fan, hiding his grin at her. The playful yet mischievous glint sheening off his dusky eyes, however, was unmistakable.

She felt a vein bulging out of annoyance but bit her tongue instead to hold words off. Karin had been in enough situations with Urahara Kisuke to know that arguing with him was practically futile. He always had a hidden motivation up his sleeve and it irked her that she wasn’t aware of them. Even more so when she was so often the butt of his plans.

Rolling her eyes, she glanced back at the chess board, examining the placement of her opponent’s pieces. Whoever they were, they were good; they knew exactly how to play each piece of their fullest extent. It’s about time Karin had met her match. Clicking her tongue, she moved her piece.

_White Rook to e7._

_Check._

~

Another two weeks had passed before Karin decided enough would be enough. If she couldn’t get that geta-wearing prick to talk, she’ll find out the identity of her opponent herself.

And that’s why she found herself sitting in the darkest corner of the store sipping on a now cold coffee, eyes glued to each and every customer walking in and out of the cafe, waiting for one of them to approach the board to move a piece一 and that would be when she’d pounce.

Was she being creepy? 

Maybe. 

If anyone judged her though, she’d blame it on Urahara-san. They’d understand. After all, it was _his_ fault for not telling her about them (Karin’s opponent, that is). He even seemed to play along, knowing full well of her antics but feigned ignorance for her sake.

When Karin finally took a break, nearly eight hours had passed. Sitting in front of her sat three empty cups of coffee一 tightly gripped in her hand was a half empty fourth cup. No wonder she still felt so energized; she was practically _respirating_ caffeine. 

And yet, there was still no sign of her chess opponent.

Sighing, she looked outside to see an orange hazy sky hinting at the nearing sunset. _Eight hours, huh._ She was on the verge of giving up. Maybe her stranger was too busy today. After all, there’s always a next time. Karin began to sit up to situated herself when the door opened and a familiar ring of the doorbell perked at her ears, taming her interest once again.

“Ah, Taicho!” the cafe owner greeted the newcomer warmly. Karin watched as a tall lank of muscle with a wild, yet … familiar ... mess of white hair approached the counter.

This “Taicho” only grunted in return and sat on a nearby stool. Karin silently regarded the new customer; he seemed … different from the others. His gait, his posture. He had this aura that Karin just couldn’t put her finger on but found herself wanting to immerse herself in completely. 

Urahara seemed to reach below the counter to pull out a bottle of sake coupled with two shot glasses. The owner poured the drink in the miniature glass and pushed it towards Hitsugaya with a smile. The grateful man nodded his thanks and swiftly yet gracefully shotted the sake, wiping his mouth with his free hand to rub away a stray drop on his lip. 

“Tough game you got there, Taicho?” the blond inquired while pouring another shot.

The man raised his eyebrows at him, puzzled, “...Meaning?”

“Why, the chess game, of course,” he nodded towards the chessboard behind the man, a small cheshire grin hidden behind his now open fan. When that man opened the fan up was beyond Toushirou.

He chuckled despite himself, “Ah, yeah … they sure know what they’re doing.” He picked up the now full glass and walked towards the chessboard. He leisurely sat down on the couch and examined the board’s remaining pieces.

“YOU!”

Toushirou jolted and nearly spilt his drink on himself, turning around to find the source of the sound. He thought that the cafe was empty, save for himself and the owner. To his horror, another customer he hadn’t noticed emerged from a dark corner, hands plastered on her hips as she marched towards him with a stern look. Urahara stifled a laugh before clandestinely filling the second glass of sake.

“YOU’RE THE ONE PLAYING CHESS WITH ME?!” she shouted, feeling the tension contained inside her during the entirety of her stakeout finally unwinding and spewing itself out. Ugly? Sure. But it was necessary一 especially now.

Toushirou examined her more closely now that she was no longer hidden from the dark with wide eyes. Immediately recognizing her, he could only sputter a “K-Karin…?”

Karin was now speechless. No way he’s her opponent, her _stranger_ when he was anything but. Not Hitsugaya Toushirou: her asshole-rival she may or may have not crushed on in chess summer camp way back when. 

She was still gaping when Urahara appeared behind her and guided her to the couch across from the stunned Hitsugaya, sitting her down. “Now, now,” he sang as he placed a shot glass in the hands of Karin, “You two can catch up now.”

Karin was too dumbstruck to notice her newfound position. All of her focus was placed on the boy一 no, _man_ 一 sitting across from her, holding the same exact expression.

**Author's Note:**

> “at the local coffee shop, there’s a chess set set up in one corner of the shop and every morning I move one piece. later in the day, someone else always moves a piece too. i’m dying to know who i’m playing against,” “we fell in love at summer camp and ran into each other as adult and whoops I still have a crush on you”


End file.
